The year has been an excellent one so far: Atlantic Trust’s growth continues, with assets under management reaching $24.4 billion—an increase of $409.9 million, calendar year-to-date—including reaching a milestone of 7 years of consecutive quarters of positive net cash flows through April 30, 2014. A strong client retention rate—99% over the past year for clients with more than $5 million in...

It’s important to our Atlantic Trust management team to stay connected to our clients and give them access to the best thinking of experts both inside and outside of our firm. We commit significant time and resources to traveling across the country each year and hosting events on topics that address timely, relevant concerns for our clients and referral sources.      ...

As the S&P 500 reached progressive new highs, stoked by unconventional monetary stimulus and with evident pockets of valuation excess, many have asked the question, “Are we in another bubble?”   Our response is no, but this question is always a wise one to ask. Overall market valuations are middling relative to the long-term average, and interest rates remain well below average....

A team of eight hardy Atlantic Trust colleagues from the Boston office participated in the Best Buddies Challenge, a ride, run or walk charity event supporting Best Buddies, an international organization that creates opportunities for friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This year’s event was held...

  We are very pleased to announce that a new senior relationship management team has joined our Chicago office—David M. Butts, CFP® as managing director and senior relationship manager and Michael D. Zeier as vice president and associate relationship manager. These hires are part of our ongoing, firm-wide initiative to attract respected industry professionals to our team.   ...

This is the third and final installment of our three-part series on family legacy planning. In Part I, we examined how your family’s values, history and long-term goals can help shape your legacy over time and discussed the importance of looking at wealth holistically, rather than exclusively in terms of the physical assets. In Part II, we looked at some of the ways to bring your family’s...

This is Part II of our three-part series on family legacy planning.  In Part I, we discussed the importance of looking at wealth holistically, rather than exclusively in terms of the physical assets. In Part II, we will look at some of the ways to bring your family’s vision to life. While vision is critical as a touchstone, legacy planning tools such as ethical wills, let­ters to trustees...

Family legacy planning is an opportunity to define, reflect on and express what wealth really means to the family. For most families, this process involves identifying the core values that make the family who it is. For some, it is an opportunity to groom the family’s future leaders. If done well, for all families, it may be what makes estate planning’s legal and tax provisions understandable...

Last month, the Board of Overseers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) sponsored an event in remembranceof the first anniversary of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, as well as the heroic actions of the BIDMC response team in the traumatic events that followed. As chair of the Board of Overseers, it was my honor to deliver the introductory remarks for what proved to be an...

High-multiple stocks in cloud computing and social media have fallen meaningfully from their recent peaks in an ongoing rotation to value. There had been some indications of speculative market behavior—for example, extremely high acquisition prices for private companies based primarily on non-financial metrics, and the sum total of consensus revenue estimates for individual social media...

The U.S. economy is strengthening...   For the year as a whole, we forecast a solid advance, with real GDP growth near 3%. Catalysts should be:                   Consumer/Housing: record household wealth and accelerating disposabe income gains Government: less fiscal drag from D.C.; stimulus from state and local spending Trade:...

  I am pleased to announce that we have hired Kishore Setty as senior vice president and relationship manager in New York, Giovanni “Gio” Boccia as vice president and associate relationship manager in Atlanta, Daniel “Dan” Carter as senior vice president and senior relationship manager in Houston and Trevor Hancock as vice president and relationship manager in Denver. In these roles,...

So far, 2014 has certainly met our expectation of “less return, more volatility” compared with last year. But in many ways, the short-term challenges facing the U.S. seem relatively tame compared to a variety of big macro issues in other parts of the world. As we approach the end of the first quarter, it is a good time to review the underpinnings of our outlook for the full year.   ...

Earlier this month, my colleagues and I had the pleasure of attending the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)’s 2014 annual meeting in Tucson, AZ. We joined more than 600 trust and estate attorneys specializing in wealth transfer, estate planning, trusts, charitable giving and other areas for an informative and productive week of networking, learning and socializing.   ...

It is my great pleasure to announce that Charlie Fowler, CFP, has joined our Newport Beach office as a vice president.   In his new role, Charlie will work to foster new relationships with high-net-worth clients and strengthen associations with key intermediaries in the Southern California region. Prior to joining Atlantic Trust, he was a vice president in the Private Client Group of...